Skip to main content

Do You Really Need To Read Leadership Books?

The answer is yes. 

And, fortunately, there are lots out there to select from.  However, if you don't have time to read books about how to be an effective and good leader, you can select a few words from the list below and then practice what those words mean, as you lead your team every day.

Leaders on the LinkedIn Executive Suite group came up with these nearly 50 words in answer to a discussion topic I posted in the group forum:  "A Good Leader Is [insert one word]."  A big thank you to that group for this valuable list.

Accountable
Adaptable
Approachable
Authentic
Aware
Bold
Brave
Candid
Caring
Clear
Challenging
Charismatic
Compassionate
Courageous
Credible
Decisive
Dedicated
Ethical
Empowering
Engaged
Fearless
Forward-Thinking
Gracious
Honest
Humble
Inclusive
Influential
Inspiring
Intuitive
Loyal
Mindful
Moral
Motivating
Objective
Open
Passionate
Pro-active
Receptive
Responsible
Respectful
Skilled
Smart
Steady
Strategic
Thought-Provoking
Tireless
Transparent
Trustworthy
Labels:

Comments

  1. Fernando JusinoAugust 12, 2010 at 11:37 AM

    Great post Eric. I feel like printing this and posing it on our department's Bulletin Board (is it OK if I do?). I am amidst reading leadership books, but if I didn't have the time, this list would indeed be perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Eric JacobsonAugust 12, 2010 at 8:08 PM

    Fernado,

    Glad you liked the post. You certainly may post the list on your Bulletin Board.

    I really like this list. It's powerful in its message!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tiim KrupaAugust 14, 2010 at 1:14 AM

    "You are the person you will be except for the people you meet and the books you read." ~Zig Ziglar.

    I would paraphrase and say, "You are the leader you will be except for the people you meet and the books you read." Tim Krupa

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Give Positive Feedback. Don't Praise.

There is an important difference between giving your employees positive feedback and giving them praise . Positive feedback focuses on the specifics of job performance. Praise, often one-or two-sentence statements, such as “Keep up the good work,” without positive feedback leaves employees with empty feelings. Worse yet, without positive feedback, employees feel no sense that they are appreciated as individual talents with specific desires to learn and grow on the job and in their careers, reports Nicholas Nigro, author of, The Everything Coaching and Mentoring Book . So, skip the praise and give positive feedback that is more uplifting to your employees because it goes to the heart of their job performance and what they actually do. An example of positive feedback is : “Bob, your communications skills have dramatically improved over the past couple of months. The report that you just prepared for me was thorough and concise. I appreciate all the work you’ve put into it, as...
Post a Comment
Read more

5 Tips For Generating Ideas From Employees

Your employees have lots of ideas.  So, be sure you provide the forums and mechanisms for your employees to share their ideas with you.  Hold at least a few brainstorming sessions each year, as well. And, when you are brainstorming with your employees, try these five tips: Encourage ALL ideas.  Don't evaluate or criticize ideas when they are first suggested. Ask for wild ideas.  Often, the craziest ideas end up being the most useful. Shoot for quantity not quality during brainstorming. Encourage everyone to offer new combinations and improvements of old ideas.
Post a Comment
Read more

Communicate Often And Tell A Story

"Most leaders' visions fail, not due to a leader's inadequacies, but due to the leader's lack of communication," said Margaret Reynolds of Reynolds Consulting, LLC in Lee's Summit, MO. Reynolds shared her expertise with me recently during an interview. She added that it's not that leaders don't communicate, but that they don't beat the drum regularly enough. "Leaders need to communicate often, regularly and consistently," she recommended. "In terms of how to communicate so people get it, it is pretty widely accepted that story telling is the most effective," explained Reynolds. Leaders need to paint a vision where people see it often. She recommends that leaders share their vision at least seven to 10 times with their employees, and to make it clear to everyone what specifically each person can do each day to help achieve the collective mission. Reynolds' other advice to leaders is to be one who: •listens with respect...
Post a Comment
Read more

How To Find Your True Purpose And Avoid Purpose Anxiety

  Having a sense of purpose has been scientifically proven to help people find happiness, longevity, and health. But lots of us are also worried about purpose―having purpose anxiety ―estimated to affect as much as 91% of people. That purpose anxiety is the fear of not knowing your purpose in life. “Most people understand the term purpose but have no idea how to take action to discover what it means in their lives,” says hospice medical director Jordan Grumet , author of the new book, The Purpose Code: How To Unlock Meaning, Maximize Happiness, And Leave A Lasting Legacy .   Furthermore, explains Grumet, “ It turns out that we fundamentally misunderstand purpose and the role it plays in our lives. In fact, there are two distinct types of purpose. One will lead to anxiety and disillusionment; the other will lead to connection and legacy.”   Grumet uses personal anecdotes and examples from years of his hospice work to illustrate that true contentment comes fro...
Post a Comment
Read more

How To Avoid 8 Common Performance Evaluation Pitfalls

As the year comes to a close it's likely time for many business leaders to tackle the annual performance appraisal process. So, here is a good reminder from author Sharon Armstrong about how to avoid eight performance evaluation pitfalls .  These are in what I consider is the best chapter of the book The Essential HR Handbook , that she co-authored with Barbara Mitchell. 1.  Clustering everyone in the middle performance-rating categories 2.  Overlooking flaws or exaggerating the achievements of favored employees 3.  Excusing substandard performance or behavior because it is widespread 4.  Letting one characteristic - positive or negative - affect your overall assessment 5.  Rating someone based on the company he or she keeps 6.  Rating someone based on a grudge you are holding 7.  Rating someone based on a short time period instead of the entire evaluation period 8.  Rating everyone high, to make you look good There's ot...
Post a Comment
Read more

3 Coaching And Mentoring Tips

Here are three great tips from the book, The Everything Coaching and Mentoring Book : Coaches do not motivate their employees; they inspire them to motivate themselves.  This is best accomplished by allowing employees to see clearly where they stand in the organization versus where they want to be in their careers.  That is, what are their self-interests versus what the company can offer them. A mentor always exercises the power of suggestion. That is, wise mentors offer up plenty of suggestions to their mentees. They pose alternatives.  But they refrain, as much as possible, from telling their mentees what to do. Mentoring is all about sharing experiences.  It is about mentors imparting the multiple lessons that they've learned to their mentees and helping them better navigate through their own careers.  By absorbing these lessons--of mentors' mistakes and successes--mentees are better prepared to move forward with knowledge and confidence.
Post a Comment
Read more

How To Not Say Um And How To Communicate Effectively

“ How you say something matters more than what you say,” explains Michael Chad Hoeppner , author of the new book, Don’t Say Um: How To Communicate Effectively To Live A Better Life .   This book will help you with all your daily interactions. It will help you by focusing on perfecting your delivery, one of the two primary buckets of all spoken communication. “ Content is what you say, delivery is how you say it,” adds Hoeppner.   Hoeppner has coached presidential candidates, prominent CEOs, and Ivy League deans on their communication skills. He shares his best practices in the book, which is filled with kinesthetic techniques and hands-on exercises like finger-walking to stop using filler words or silent storytelling to avoid monotone.   You will learn through a variety of simple-to-master exercises:   Four common speaking mistakes that inadvertently impact your message and delivery. How the most effective speakers use the 5 Ps of vocal variety—a unique ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Resolve To Find A Mentor In 2011

Having a mentor is one of the best things you can do to advance your career as a leader. So, decide today to secure a mentor who will work with you during 2011. Make that one of your New Year’s resolutions. A mentor can benefit leaders new to their leadership role and they can benefit experienced and seasoned leaders, as well. A strong mentoring relationship allows the mentor and the mentee to develop new skills and talents, to build confidence, and to build self-awareness. Proper mentoring takes a commitment from both parties and it takes time to develop and to reap the rewards of the relationship. Plan to work with your mentor for no less than three months, and ideally for six months or longer. When seeking out a mentor, think about these questions: 1.  Will the relationship have good personal chemistry? 2.  Can this person guide me, particularly in the areas where I am weakest? 3.  Will this person take a genuine interest in me? 4.  Does this person ha...
Post a Comment
Read more

Key Interviewing Questions To Ask To Identify Leaders

The next time you are interviewing a candidate and you want to access their leadership skills, consider asking the candidate these questions: What personal qualities define you as a leader?  Describe a situation when these qualities helped you lead others. Give an example of when you demonstrated good leadership. What is the toughest group from which you've had to get cooperation? Have you ever had difficulty getting others to accept your ideas?  What was your approach?  Did it work? Describe a situation in which you had to change your leadership style to achieve the goal? One leadership skill is the ability to accommodate different views in the workplace, regardless of what they are.  What have you done to foster a wide number of views in your work environment? Thanks to Sharon Armstrong, author of The Essential HR Handbook , for these helpful questions!
Post a Comment
Read more

Use A Board Of Advisors

David Burkus often provides valuable comments to my various Blog postings, and he's a person who effectively uses a board of advisors, instead of mentors, to help him achieve success. "I've found that in my life, it was easier and more effective to set up a board of advisors," said Burkus, the editor of LeaderLab . "This is a group of people, three to five, that have rotated into my life at various times and that speak into it and help me grow. I benefit from the variety of experience these people have." LeaderLab is an online community of resources dedicated to promoting the practice of leadership theory. Its contributors include consultants and professors who present leadership theory in a practitioner-friendly format that provides easy-to-follow explanations on how to apply the best of leadership theory. Community users can download a variety of research reports and presentations about leadership and leadership versus management. For example, a pr...
Post a Comment
Read more